Minecraft — Shadow of Israphel
by ML760
Summary: Two heroes embark on a journey, but unbeknownst to them, a figure lurks in the shadows.
1. Chapter 1 - The Shack

"It's fucking freezing out here!" Xephos shivered, his body attempting to keep him warm. Around him was a beach covered in snow, with icy waters that went on for miles, surrounded by snowy hills and mountain-tops. Snow was falling, and the temperature was low enough to make your teeth chatter.

Xephos himself, a tall, blue-eyed and dark brown haired man, was fumbling with his pockets to see if he had anything that could assist him. Nothing.

"We better get started, then." His best friend and pal Honeydew chimed him. Honeydew was a short and stubby dwarf, although compared to most dwarves he was a little taller than average. He had ginger hair and a beard. His trusty dwarven helmet rested on his head.

Xephos eyed Honeydew suspiciously, "I don't know how you're not as cold as I am. You don't even have a shirt on!"

Honeydew just let out a chuckle, "'Tis the rock in me blood!" Xephos simply rolled his eyes. He moved towards a grouping of trees and waved Honeydew over.

The dwarf began punching a small, oak tree to collect its wood, albeit the method would seem strange to us it was efficient and not soon after he had a couple of planks of wood. Meanwhile, the spaceman Xephos had collected some wool from a few unfortunate sheep, who no longer had their natural coat to protect them from the harsh winter. He eyed a dark covering near a cliff and could've sworn he'd seen a flash of green.d

"We need ourselves some shelter, don't want to be around when the sun sets." Honeydew said, and immediately began scouting for a spot to build, images of fabulous mansions and apartments appearing in his mind. Xephos took a look at the sky and gasped, "The sun is nearly setting! We don't have much time." Xephos finished off a few trees his friend had left unfinished, while the dwarf began constructing the foundations of their home beneath the floating leaves of a tree.

In a matter of minutes, the shack was complete. An ugly box of wood sitting beneath the leaves of what used to be a tree. The sun had just set below the horizon, and a full moon shone in the sky. The two huddled inside the tight space of the house in complete darkness, as neither had any source of light.

"Well, this is bloody fantastic." Honeydew spoke, breaking the silence. "We're trapped in a tiny shack, with no space to move and no lights!" Xephos finished installing a wooden door, and shut it immediately, "We're at least safe from any night monster attacks. I would rather be inside here than being attacked from all sides by zombies and flying arrows." He told Honeydew, who nodded in agreement. Honeydew placed down his crafting table in the little open space that the shack had. That resulted in a barely audible groan from Xephos, who was not used to tiny and cramped spaces, unlike his dwarven friend who had spent most of his life deep inside mineshafts. The duo continued to create small talk, discussing plans for when the sun would rise again. A chilling sound of rattling bones quickly silenced both of them.

"Shhh! Listen..." Honeydew whispered, pointing towards the door. Xephos attempted to see outside the window of the door, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. The sound of bones moving on the snow could be heard. "It's a skellington. I hope it doesn't notice us." Honeydew and Xephos held their breath as the skeleton moved around the perimeter of the house, but were relieved when it failed to take notice of them. The dwarf put his hand to his chin, formulating a plan. Xephos carefully monitored the sky outside to check when the day would come.

Honeydew began fumbling with some wood on the crafting table, and turned to his friend, "Pass me some sticks, please." Xephos gave him his request, wondering what the man was up to. Despite the darkness which shrouded the land, he was able to craft a pair of wooden swords, one of which he handed to Xephos. "We need to launch a foray outside to defend this property!" Honeydew spoke with newly found courage. Xephos on the other hand spoke cautiously, "Are you sure this is a wise idea? I hear about two zombies and skeletons! What about the giant spiders?"

Honeydew shook his head. "We'll be fine." The door shot open and the duo leaped into the darkness. A skeleton took notice and pulled back its bow and fired an arrow, which had the misfortune of hiting Xepgos. Xephos groaned and pulled the arrow out, biting his tongue. Honeydew striked the skeleton with his sword, its bones shaking and rattling from the hit.

They were too frightened from the monsters, and only got in a few hits, before retreating to the shack again. "That-that was a mistake..." Honeydew admitted, and Xephos nodded in agreement. They dusted themselves off and took a look at their wounds.

"We need food, and more resources if we want to survive here." Xephos stated. Honeydew agreed, "Yeah. I guess our only solution to this situation is to sleep it out. I could do with some shut-eye." He yawned, and pulled out a wool block to rest his head on. They tried to lay down comfortably in the cramped shack, which proved difficult, especially for Xephos, who was much taller than his dwarven counterpart.

"Night, friend." Xephos spoke one last time before falling asleep, dreaming of crazy adventures on the Starship Enterprise.


	2. Chapter 2 - A Brand New Home

_"C'mon, Xephos! Hurry!" A voice yelled to Xephos, who was fumbling with a control panel. The door squeaked and churned but finally opened. Xephos rushed into the pod, and yelled, "Captain! You have to come! This is the only escape pod left!" The Captain shook his head. "I'm sorry Xephos. A captain must always go down with his ship." Xephos couldn't believe it. The man he had looked up to, idolized, and befriended for the past four years was giving up his only chance for survival?_

 _Xephos couldn't handle the loss of his friend. He dashed forward, planning to pull him into the pod regardless of whatever he said. But before he could grab his arm, the door shut in front of him. The Captain gave Xephos a final, teary eyed salute. The tall man pounded on the glass door's frame, shouting the Captain's name. The pod took off, and Xephos nearly fell on his back. He watched as the Captain got smaller and smaller until the starship shook violently, and a gigantic explosion erupted, sending the escape pod off course. Xephos took one last glance at the burning ship before being knocked out cold by flying debris._

Xephos woke up, drenched in sweat. He frantically looked at his surroundings, remembering his location. He was in a small, wooden shack, and his best friend and companion, a short but bold dwarf, slept on the opposite side of the building. The worried space man breathed a sigh of relief.

He took this calm, peaceful moment to glance at the wooden door beside the dwarf. Rays of sunlight pierced through the door's open windows. A smile took over Xephos's face, remembering the previous troubles of last night.

"Mornin', pal." The voice of the dwarf startled Xephos, who was yawning and stretching his dwarf body. Honeydew seemed to be in such a deep sleep mere seconds ago, Xephos had to wonder how he had suddenly awoken. "Looks like it's finally day. We better get started on finding a new base of operations." Honeydew grabbed his flimsy wooden sword and a couple of wood planks off the crafting table, and opened the door, stepping outside into the winter wonderland they resided in.

"I guess I'll search for some materials, while you dismantle this piece of crap hut." Xephos told Honeydew, who sneered in offense. "Hey! It may look ugly, but it served its purpose!" Xephos rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm going to get started." He walked towards a cave opening, hoping to find some coal or a spot to build a house. A proper one, this time. Honeydew began taking apart the shack, leaving a small pole in the middle in remembrance of their first night.

Xephos found a nice little clearing in the mountain, with an open ceiling of the sky above, and rocky walls surrounding it save for two openings. While surveying the area, he spotted a vein of coal above him. Realizing its importance, he built a makeshift staircase using dirt to access the coal. He swiftly crafted a wooden pickaxe and began hacking away at the coal veins in the rock.

Satisfied with his work, Honeydew followed the path of human-sized footprints left on the snow, so he could track down Xephos. He found him collecting dusty lumps of coal across the ground, inside the recently discovered clearing. "Welcome to the Yogcave!" The spaceman announced, and Honeydew smirked, "The Yogcave, huh? I like it! Needs a little lighting up, though." He grabbed some of the coal pieces Xephos had just collected, and together with some sticks, he lit up a few torches, which were placed around dark areas of the Yogcave. The duo began collecting dirt and mud from the floor of the clearing to block the large openings on each side-along with the ceiling-to prevent an invasion of mobs into their cave.

Unbeknownst to them, a dark figure lurked in the shadow of a distant tree, watching them from above the opening of the cave. The figure stared at their actions for a couple of minutes before dashing off silently into the forest.

"Oh crap, it's getting dark again!" Honeydew realized as he watched the sun drift towards the horizon. Xephos placed the last block of dirt required to seal off one of the openings before Honeydew plonked down a wooden door he retrieved from the shack. "Well we better hurry the fuck up and build the ceiling, or it's going to rain creepers on us!" Xephos shuddered as he spoke, knowing fully well what a creeper would do to the two of them. They scrambled to grab the last remaining pieces of dirt, and finally finished the roof after a brief panic. Relieved, they wiped a bead of sweat off their foreheads.

"Y'know, we could build a balcony or s'mthing near that waterfall in the back. It looked quite picturesque." Xephos told his friend, crafting himself a new pickaxe using some of the stone he had gathered. "First we focus on practicality, aesthetics come afterward." Honeydew replied, before adding, "You know, I'm a bit of an architect myself." Xephos pictured Honeydew constructing a skyscraper, with it then coming crashing down later. He replied, "Are you?" Honeydew nodded in return. As the moon finally began shining in the sky, a wolf could be heard howling in the distance. Honeydew planted a few stairs near the front door, along with a wooden chair for him to sit on, and sit he did. "Ahhh.. that's more like it," he sighed happily.

Like the night before, the two slept on a mixture of grass and wool. Despite the lack of a real bed, they fell asleep content knowing they were in a secure, roomy environment.


	3. Chapter 3 - Pig Island

_"Honeydew! Get your arse over here!" A voice croaked; Honeydew tensed and stood up, saluting the other dwarf. "Yes, my king?" The mysterious dwarf nodded at a guard, who picked up a long letter and began reading: "Private Dwarf Honeydew, you are officially guilty of these code violations: Raiding the cookie supply in the foundry, causing your fellow miners to lose several pounds worth of diamonds, gold, and others of the sort. You have also been found bringing surface animals inside our caves, such as the pig, and causing massive detonations throughout the mineshafts!" The guard handed the paper to the king, who turned to speak to the now-sheepish dwarf. "What do you say in your defense?" Honeydew scratched his beard and replied, "Uhhm... I'm... sorry?" He chuckled nervously and faced the opposite direction._

 _The king stood up from his mighty throne a_ _nd stretched his arms. "Very well then. Honeydew, I regret to inform you that you are officially exiled from the Dwarven Kingdom of Khaz Modan. You have until morning to pack up and leave." Honeydew stared at the king in shock, before reluctantly nodding, "Very well, my king..." He exited the throne room._

Honeydew's eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the dim light that shone over them. He half-stood up and shook his head. "I'm better than those guys... leaving was the best thing that could've happened to me." He said to himself, eyeing the shining light. According to his knowledge of sunlight, it must've been around dawn. _"Good, I didn't over-sleep,"_ he thought. The brown-haired spaceman was still sound asleep, not stirred by the dwarf.

Honeydew snatched his trusty stone pickaxe from a pile of items they had made. A chest was direly needed. He groaned as his stomach rumbled, his health being the same since the fight outside the wooden shack. He started mining the rocky walls of the Yogcave, collecting cobblestone as he mined.

With 8 dug stone, he set off to work at the workbench. He crafted a furnace and plopped it down in an open space. The furnace could cook food or smelt items, as long as it had fuel. He stuck a couple of lumpy coal bits in the bottom and made a mental note; " _We need sand and pork,"_ he told himself as he fixed his helmet on his head and reached for the door. Before he could yank open the door, he heard a groaning sound behind him. His eyes shot open; he jumped around with his stone blade, expecting to find a creeper. He nearly sliced Xephos's head in two, before managing to stop himself. "Bloody hell!" Xephos shrieked, the man had just awoken and was not expecting a sword tip to fling by his eyes. Honeydew's expression turned from shock to anger: "You scared the bloody shit out of me! I thought you were a creeper!" Xephos facepalmed, "How would a creeper get in? The entire cave's lit up and not a single hole is present!" The dwarf glanced around and bitterly nodded, "I guess, I was just scared..." He pointed towards the furnace, sitting beside the crafting table, "Look what I made this morning. Now, all we need is some food to cook," He rubbed his stomach, remembering his original plan. Xephos nodded in agreement, "Yep. The sun's low in the sky, I think we should go exploring for some food," Honeydew added, "And glass." They snatched their equipment and head outside, their bodies adjusting to the colder environment.

They started trekking up the hill in which the Yogcave was built into. Snow was getting all over their shoes, but they carried on. The pair stopped near a couple of trees, and Honeydew whispered, "Shh! I hear a spider," Xephos nodded, and silently wished he had brought more supplies with him. Honeydew opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could get out, something fell out of the trees. A large, brown spider, with eight glowing red eyes, landed in the snow in front of the duo and stared at them with curiosity. Honeydew screamed, and Xephos nearly fell backward in shock. Despite their cowardly acts, the spider did not attack as they had expected to. It took one more second to carefully observe them before trotting off on its way. Dwarves were known for their bravery and courage, spending hours and possibly days inside tiny, cramped mines, battling the most dangerous goblins and creatures. However, this specific dwarf wasn't showing any of those characteristics. "Let's get the fuck away from these trees!" Honeydew descended the hill, taking time to regain his bearings. Xephos couldn't help but chuckle, although he too was frightened by the uninvited guest's appearance. He jogged forward to catch up to his dwarven friend.

Reaching the same icy beach they had built the shack near, Xephos took a look at the "Cave of Terror", as he'd named it. There was no creeper to be seen; in fact, the cave itself didn't have much to offer, and it certainly didn't live up to its name. Not getting distracted a second time, Honeydew pulled out his stone spade and began shoveling the sand on the beach. Xephos soon joined in to assist his friend. After collecting about twenty-one blocks, the two took a quick break and took a quick interest in the plains on the opposite side of them. Honeydew was the first to speak, "Are those pumpkins?" he began walking on the ice towards the pumpkin patch, nearly slipping about five times. Xephos took a safer approach and walked around the frozen water, sticking to solid ground instead. At last, they reached the fairly uninteresting pumpkins. Despite this, Honeydew collected three of the orange pumpkins, stashing it away in his inventory. Xephos turned around, having lost interest in this area, before calling Honeydew over. "A cave! Fantastic! We could use some ores," the dwarf was overjoyed, it was a while since he had last been in a cave like this, and he worried his digging skills were getting rusty.

Xephos stood behind the ecstatic dwarf, who cheerfully placed torches while descending deeper into the mouth of the cave. After the third torch was placed, however, his cheerful mood instantly turned to disappointment, "The cave just ends here..." He sighed and lowered his shoulders in defeat. Xephos gave him a pat on the back and a reassuring nod, reminding him that eventually, they'd stumble on a gigantic cave with all the riches he could dream off. "Thanks, friend... I'm glad to have you here with me," he thanked Xephos. He hopped out of the cave, and they traveled back to the icy hills they resided in.

There was still daylight to be spared, however, and they took an alternate path once they'd arrived at the front of the Yogcave. At last, their primary objective was complete. "In the name of Notch..." Honeydew spoke, awe shining in his eyes. In front of the pair, lay four pigs, and a small floating island-with a tree up top-with a fifth pig. Their stomachs rumbled one last time and they both knew what had to be done. The peaceful singing of birds was interrupted by squealing, followed by a slicing sound. "Aww. Pig Island was so lovely," Xephos sighed, a bit saddened at the fact that Pig Island was now extinct of pigs. Honeydew imitated the squealing of a pig, earning a laugh from his companion. They happily marched back to the Yogcave, and immediately started the cooking inside the furnace. The cave smelled of delicious, cooked bacon, and they savored their meal while munching on cooked porkchop, saving the rest for later. Soon the sand they had collected was smelted into glass, and they installed windows next to the front door, allowing them a reasonably nice view of the landscape in front of their residence. Xephos dug a small shaft next to the working area, collecting cobblestone and more coal as he went, while Honeydew organized his inventory. "I think I will do a bit of scouting outside, catch you later pal," Xephos said this as he departed from the Yogcave. He took a look at the descending sun and estimated he had still an hour or so of daylight. He climbed his way up to the top of the hill; the Yogcave's artificial dirt ceiling lay below him. He scouted his surroundings and caught a flash of green in the corner of his eye.

Turning around, he was face to face with none other than a creeper, one of Minecraftia's most well known and feared beasts. He stood still, shocked, while the creeper began to puff up, a hissing sound resonating through the air. Thanks to his quick reflexes, he suddenly kicked the creeper backward, and the green creature fell onto the dirt roof. To his relief, it did not explode; although it was still alive. He decided it was time he returned to the dwarf; he had had enough scares in one day, "First a spider and now a bloody creeper," he mumbled as he came down from the hill. He was met with Honeydew's gaze, one of confusion and questioning: "Did something fall on the roof? I heard a loud 'Thump!'." Xephos stopped for a second before replying, "Oh, it's probably nothing." He decided that the dwarf didn't need to know about the explosive danger sitting above their heads. "If you say so," Honeydew left the question at that, still not convinced, however. To Xephos's relief, he didn't try checking anyways. They lay down on their separate makeshift beds, and fell asleep with full stomachs, having dreams of crazy adventures with some old professor guy?


	4. Chapter 4 - The Mysterious Tree

Honeydew awoke to the faint noise of groaning and banging. His eyes took a few minutes to properly adjust to the environment, and he realized what seemed to be a commotion outside had woken him up. The dwarf shook Xephos up, who mumbled and groaned but stood up nonetheless. Honeydew pointed towards their backdoor.

Outside the window of the back entrance was exactly two zombies, one creeper and a skeleton. The monsters were both banging on the door and hopping up and down. Honeydew chuckled, "They're, like, having a party," he motioned towards the door, as if beckoning the mobs to enter, "C'mon in guys! We got punch! Jk, jk!" Even Xephos couldn't hide a laugh, as Honeydew swiftly shut the door once more.

"I guess we better get started with the day," Xephos recommended. Honeydew dashed for the front door, before pausing unexpectedly. "Honeydew? Is something wrong?"

"Have you- have you been messing with the trees?" the dwarf asked, shock resonating through his voice. In front of him lay a massive tree, resembling nothing they'd ever seen before. It loomed over the entrance of The Yogcave, its trunk thicker than any ordinary tree.

"Is this even natural?" Xephos replied, completely dumbstruck. The space man felt a chill run up his spine. He quickly glared his surroundings, but saw nothing else that was out of the ordinary. Honeydew quickly recomposed himself, having a bright idea at the moment: "Well, it's more wood for us!" Dashing back into their home, he reemerged out the front door carrying two stone axes, one of which was handed to Xephos.

"Now we just spiral around the tree trunk..." Honeydew mumbled, beginning his work. Xephos caught on and assisted his friend on the task. After several grueling minutes of hard work, the pair had trimmed down the tree, and collected a fair sized amount of planks along the way.

Heading back inside, Honeydew got his friend's attention and began to lecture him once again: "Now, if we want to stay alive in this world, we're going to need armor. And we need hide to make armor." Xephos agreed and followed up with a question, "Where would we get the hide from?" Honeydew sheepishly grinned rather evilly, as he neared a stray cow that had wandered into The Yogcave.

"Ol' Bessie here..." he whispered, before suddenly plunging his axe into the poor cow's head. Bessie mooed and groaned before collapsing on the floor; Honeydew collected her hide. Xephos gawked in shock at Honeydew's wicked act.

Eyeing the hide he had gathered, his vicious smiles formed into a frown, as he realized he still did not have enough leather to create armor. Shifting his focus to the double chest, he carelessly threw it open and inspected its contents. "We're a little low on supplies, me thinks," he said, turning to Xephos.

"Want to go explore the area, then?" Xephos asked, pointing towards the front door. Honeydew gave him a simple nod, "Yeah, let's go!" Passing the strange tree they had previously encountered, the duo headed out into the Minecraftian wilderness, eager to find out what else lay in store for them.

Spending hours gathering resources and foraging food supplies, the two were quite far from home when the sun began to set once again. They were currently resting near the familiar beach they had once started on. Xephos glanced towards the setting sun, and turned his gaze back to his dwarven companion.

"We better find some shelter soon," he remarked, noticing the Cave of Terror in the distance, "What if we hole-up in the Cave of Doom? _Or was it the Cave of Terror?_ " he added.

"The Cave of Doom sounds just like the place I'd want to live!" Honeydew bellowed sarcastically. Despite his initial doubts, he'd much prefer to stay in the safety of a cave than lay exposed to the outside elements.

Finally entering it, they were rather disappointed at the sight. It was a medium-sized cave, but it would do. They quickly lit up several torches around the perimeter, and sat down to organize their inventories and fill their bellies.

"This night's kind of quiet, don't you think?" Xephos asked, confused by the lack of creepers or zombies. He had seen a couple, to be fair, but noticeably less than the previous nights. "Yeah, I am kind of bored, actually," Honeydew replied, followed by himself standing up, "How about we go check out the beach again?"

"Eh, sure why not?" Both friends once again left the lit-up safety of their shelter and made way for a new patch of beach, this one completely frozen over into ice. Carefully treading along it, a zombie burst out from behind and attacked them.

"Watch out!" Honeydew cried. Whipping out his sword, Xephos dealt a nasty blow to the zombie, and Honeydew finished it off with a pickaxe to the head. Smiling, Xephos inspected the zombified corpse, giving it a kick with his foot. Honeydew's focus was caught by something glowing in the far distance, penetrating through the several layers of fog that enveloped the two.

"Umm, Xephos? You might want to see this."


End file.
